Q. During the Draft process, were you asked to evaluate Fisk and Jared Verse, what do you think of those two players?
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, those are two really good players that we did work on, and you know, as the Draft is, you know, you only get your certain amount of picks, and guys are gone or somebody there that you take.
But those are were two guys that we were very high on and liked.
Q. What do you like about them?
VIC FANGIO: Just they are good football players at their position. Fisk, interior D-Line, Verse on the edge. They both really good players.
Q. What does it take for a defensive tackle to be able to play every snap in a game and how do you reach that decision during a game that he's not coming off the field?
VIC FANGIO: Well, I mean, No. 1, it's the guys' conditioning, can they do it. Two, sometimes the circumstances make it hard or allow them to make it out on occasion. Flow of the game. I've had many do it or come close to doing it.
Q. This is a week where pre nap is going to be a big thing with Sean. You've had a lot of success against him in the past.
VIC FANGIO: I haven't gone against him in six or seven years, okay.
Q. That was a big part of it and Bill followed your sort of blueprint, if you want to call it that. But when you talk about that pre-snap motion, what do you preach to your guys?
VIC FANGIO: Well, No. 1, we've got to be able to react to it and adjust to it correctly. You know, they do motion a lot at various tempos, and they are trying to get you a little bit out of position and back on your heels a little bit. We've got to be ready for it. And be able to play correctly and not let the motion confuse us at all.
Q. You've had only one game lost to injury and in your back seven. Having that continuity on the back and that communication, how key has that been?
VIC FANGIO: That's very key. We are all better coaches when our better players are playing, and those guys have done a good job coming together, communicating and doing well for the most part.
Q. How would you evaluate what Jordan Davis has done so far this season, and overall your defensive tackles?
VIC FANGIO: I think Jordan has been doing better and better here of late. He's been strong against the run. Offering a little pass rush, and I do think he's improving. I do think Jalen has really come on and really helped our defense extremely to a high level.
And the other guys, Mo, Book and Mill have all done well.
Q. Speaking of Jalen Carter, what has it been like behind the scenes in the meeting settings? What have you noticed about him?
VIC FANGIO: He's been good. Nothing major either way there. I don't know what you're looking for there. He's been good in meetings. Good in prep. It's translating onto the field.
Q. Indicators along the way to know that he was ready to take on --
VIC FANGIO: You know, he's been playing a lot, anyway, you know. What the hell is the different between 90 percent and 100 percent? I mean, geez.
Just that he's been able to do it for the most part, and he's ready for it.
Q. A little off the beaten path question.
VIC FANGIO: Uh-oh.
Q. You and Jim Johnson started in the -- 40 years ago, you were never together but did you ever get to know him tore talk defense with him and is there anything that you kind of took from him?
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, Jim and I were professional friends in that there's -- there's -- on occasion, not much right now but back then, you'd have a couple guys that you would talk to. Meaning, you know, if you played somebody, you're playing somebody this week that maybe is not in your division and you haven't played in a while, and you want to call somebody that has more familiar -- familiarity with them, you know, Jim and I would do that back and forth, you know, with each other. You know, me for him and him for me. So got to know him that way.
And you know, we had what I would consider a very good professional relationship, and kind of saw the game the same way to a degree.
Q. Anything significant you took from what he did?
VIC FANGIO: Nothing that I can remember. You know, things have changed so much since -- when was Jim's last season here? '08, yeah. I can't remember. I'm sure there was though.
Q. On the third and -- what was the key?
VIC FANGIO: Just guys being where they were supposed to be and making the plays. It helped early that Heat bobbled the snap on his own and Jalen made the presentation and made the bobble even more which helped us.
Q. Blankenship comes up obviously big interception. What has he meant to the secondary?
VIC FANGIO: He specializes in those -- on the low line drives in center field, you know what I mean. It's amazing how all three of his picks have looked the same. He's done a good job. He quarterbacks the secondary. Leads the communication between them and the linebackers. So he's very, very valuable.
Q. When you have such a young defense, what are the biggest concerns you have, and especially as you get deeper into the season, with a young secondary, really, all three levels, you have young guys?
VIC FANGIO: Nothing, really. You know, back in the day, you used to hear rookies hitting the rookie wall. I don't think that rookie wall exists any more because back in the day, you'd have two-a-days in training camp. And when you got a rookie that you thought would play, you'd practice him a lot. He'd play a lot in preseason games when there was four. Well, that don't happen anymore. So I don't buy the rookie wall anymore. It's not physical. It might be mental or emotional. But it's not physical any more in my opinion.
Q. What about the teaching aspect? How much has that changed over the years?
VIC FANGIO: The teaching?
Q. Just your scheme when you get younger players, as opposed to experienced players, has that changed or not?
VIC FANGIO: Not really. It's just the process. And you have to keep -- keep at it. And not get discouraged when they don't get something early.
I can remember times where young players, where I told them, they had to see it a certain way, and they said, man, that's hard, how am I going to do that.
Then a month or two later, they see it and I say, hey, nice job on that. He said, oh, yeah, that's easy.
I said, well, remember a month or so ago, you told me that was too hard.
It's a process. It comes with practice and playing and you can't guess discouraged when they don't see it the right way early on.
Q. What was the key area of development you were looking for out of Nolan Smith and what do you see as his trajectory now?
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, Nolan has been doing well. Obviously speed and athleticism is his forte, which is good. We need that. And he's been able to off set his -- you know, kind of being small for an edge position. To really work on being physical enough to play the run, play in his blocks, and I think him and Wash has done a good job with him to get to where he's competitively good enough to play the run.
Q. Sometimes at this point of the season, especially when there's sustained success, some teams take on a personality. What is the sense you get out of the defense at this point and is that something you try and foster?
VIC FANGIO: No, I think anything along those ways, kind of happen organically. And I don't try and do anything one way or the other.
Q. Do you think too much is made of you playing a lot of two-high safety -- seems like this season you've mixed in a lot of single-high and played a little more man than you have. Is that narrative a fair one in terms of how you call your schemes?
VIC FANGIO: I don't know, every game is a new adventure, and you major in certain things in certain games.
So you know, it's more of a game-by-game thing than a seasonal.
Q. With Puka and Cooper?
VIC FANGIO: Yeah, two really good receivers. They really have good karma, both of them, with Stafford. They are strong at the catch point. Both of them are strong receivers. Both are excellent runners after the catch. And you know, they have played, I don't know how many games, but more than a few without either one of them.
You know, for them to be at this point in the season with the injuries they have had speaks highly of their players and their coaching staff. You know, now they are back pretty much to full strength offensively, and they will be a tough group to defend.
DraftScripts by ASAP Sports ....
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports